pbray

One of the least fun parts of the process is the painstakingly careful reading of galleys. Your eyes burn, your brain melts, and you find yourself instant messaging a friend because you can no longer remember how to spell the word 'been', as in had been seen which you hear in your head as had beeeen seen.

Convinced that the book sucks, since no prose is improved by concentrating on the punctuation over the unfolding storylines, the ordeal is redeemed when you stumble across a gem. Such as the one I found at lunch today:

"Surely you cannot doubt the loyalty and devotion of your followers?"

It was not their loyalty he doubted, it was their intelligence.

Still, all in all, I'm grateful to receive the galleys and to have one last chance to try and correct any mistakes before the book hits the stores. At least I'll know that I've done my part, whenever the inevitable typos are discovered.